Lisa and the Ferry Boat Ride
06.05.2010
My sister, Lisa, is going to South Africa for World Cup and has a 12 hour layover in Barcelona today. I stayed probably three days longer than I wanted to so we could hang out today and I could get the stuff she was supposed to send me but didn't.
I went to the airport to get her. This was to assure me that we would meet in the right place. Her flight was on time but I guess customs was a bit of a problem. It was close to 10a before she finally cleared customs, almost an hour after landing. We checked her bags into the luggage locker and took off for Sitges. I thought it would be fun to get out of town for a bit.
We got to Sitges just before 11a and I showed her around town. There were a lot more people there because it was the weekend but it wasn't too bad. We walked along the beach front for a bit. Then we went in search of tapas. We found a place and ordered an assortment of tapas. They were delicious!
After tapas, we hopped on the train back to Barcelona and wandered around Plaza Catalunya for a bit. I took her back to the airport early because I still had to get my things and go back to the pension to get my bags before I could head to the ferry terminal.
I made it to the ferry terminal with plenty of time to check in. It was a bit of a walk from the pension, I thought about getting one of the bicycle taxis but they quoted me 10 Euros, which I felt was too much, so I just walked. I checked in and realized the fun was really going to begin with the waiting. We were told that at 8:30p there would be busses to take us to the ferry. Yeah, right. There were two busses for a few hundred of us, including several groups of teenagers with school groups. The Spaniards and Italians really don't honor lines, so it was pretty much a free-for-all with people pushing their way onto the busses with their luggage.
I decided I was not in any hurry so I hung back and watched the chaos instead. It was quite entertaining. Luckily, I had decided to book a cabin for the night. Traveling by myself, it just makes sense to have a safe, secure place to leave my stuff, as well as a nice place to sleep. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10:15p, but at the rate things were moving, I thought we would leave port later than that.
I befriended a group of Americans traveling There were six of them, all of the husbands were retired military who had been stationed in Spain back in the 60's/70's. They had been in Spain for a reunion and were heading to Rome and other points in Italy to see the sights. We all decided to just wait until the crowds had thinned out a bit. As I said to them, "I know where I'm sleeping tonight, so what's the rush!?"
Finally, we got on a bus and arrived at the ferry. This ferry was unlike any ferry I have been on before! It was more like a cruise ship. I found my room, put my stuff away and set out to explore. My room was on the 9th floor. The 10th floor had a lounge, a cafeteria, a restaurant and several shops and a cafe. The 11th floor was the top deck and it had a swimming pool, disco, and a bar. The spa and fitness center were on the 8th floor. Yeah, this was not like the ferries I have been on to get to Canada!
I decided to grab a snack in the bar on the lido deck and settled on a crepe with Nutella and strawberries. I ran into Joyce and Bill, two of the Americans on the reunion tour. We talked until almost 1a! They were so nice.
I fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the ferry and the sounds of teenagers running amok in the hallway.
My sister, Lisa, is going to South Africa for World Cup and has a 12 hour layover in Barcelona today. I stayed probably three days longer than I wanted to so we could hang out today and I could get the stuff she was supposed to send me but didn't.
I went to the airport to get her. This was to assure me that we would meet in the right place. Her flight was on time but I guess customs was a bit of a problem. It was close to 10a before she finally cleared customs, almost an hour after landing. We checked her bags into the luggage locker and took off for Sitges. I thought it would be fun to get out of town for a bit.
We got to Sitges just before 11a and I showed her around town. There were a lot more people there because it was the weekend but it wasn't too bad. We walked along the beach front for a bit. Then we went in search of tapas. We found a place and ordered an assortment of tapas. They were delicious!
After tapas, we hopped on the train back to Barcelona and wandered around Plaza Catalunya for a bit. I took her back to the airport early because I still had to get my things and go back to the pension to get my bags before I could head to the ferry terminal.
I made it to the ferry terminal with plenty of time to check in. It was a bit of a walk from the pension, I thought about getting one of the bicycle taxis but they quoted me 10 Euros, which I felt was too much, so I just walked. I checked in and realized the fun was really going to begin with the waiting. We were told that at 8:30p there would be busses to take us to the ferry. Yeah, right. There were two busses for a few hundred of us, including several groups of teenagers with school groups. The Spaniards and Italians really don't honor lines, so it was pretty much a free-for-all with people pushing their way onto the busses with their luggage.
I decided I was not in any hurry so I hung back and watched the chaos instead. It was quite entertaining. Luckily, I had decided to book a cabin for the night. Traveling by myself, it just makes sense to have a safe, secure place to leave my stuff, as well as a nice place to sleep. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10:15p, but at the rate things were moving, I thought we would leave port later than that.
I befriended a group of Americans traveling There were six of them, all of the husbands were retired military who had been stationed in Spain back in the 60's/70's. They had been in Spain for a reunion and were heading to Rome and other points in Italy to see the sights. We all decided to just wait until the crowds had thinned out a bit. As I said to them, "I know where I'm sleeping tonight, so what's the rush!?"
Finally, we got on a bus and arrived at the ferry. This ferry was unlike any ferry I have been on before! It was more like a cruise ship. I found my room, put my stuff away and set out to explore. My room was on the 9th floor. The 10th floor had a lounge, a cafeteria, a restaurant and several shops and a cafe. The 11th floor was the top deck and it had a swimming pool, disco, and a bar. The spa and fitness center were on the 8th floor. Yeah, this was not like the ferries I have been on to get to Canada!
I decided to grab a snack in the bar on the lido deck and settled on a crepe with Nutella and strawberries. I ran into Joyce and Bill, two of the Americans on the reunion tour. We talked until almost 1a! They were so nice.
I fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the ferry and the sounds of teenagers running amok in the hallway.